Blogs

June has begun! Here are the highlights from last week: APL Has Withdrawn Its Association With The Asia-Europe Tradelane After being associated with the Asia-Europe tradelane for more than a period of 30 years, APL (which was earlier purchased from a sovereign wealth fund in Singapore) has decided to finally bow out from the collaboration. Observing the recent development, the renowned shipping organization from France, CMA CGM has declared the need for rearranging the structure of the group. CMA CGM now happens to be the only carrier in the group that is operating in the Asia-Mediterranean, Europe-India/Middle East, Asia-Caribbean and Asia-Europe trade markets. Instead of taking part in the Asia-Europe trade, APL will now shift its focus to the transpacific, Asia-Indian subcontinent and it will now remain the sole intra-Asia brand in the group, along with the cooperation of its sister company CNC in Asia-Oceania and the US flag services. CMA CGM is of the opinion that the restructuring process will go a long way in boosting the overall performance of the group and lowering the costs involved to a great extent. This move will also allow the group to draw sufficient advantages from the expertise of the specialist organizations, which belong to coherent regional groups. Hutchison Ports Will Focus On Developing A New, Deepwater Container Terminal According to the recent reports, the Quebec Port Authority (QPA) from Canada has chosen the Hutchison Ports to lend its cooperation to the Canadian National Railway for constructing a brand-new, deepwater container terminal by the name of Laurentia. Effectively funded by three partners, the project was earlier referred to as the Beauport 2020 and will involve a total investment of around $575m. The Group Managing Director of Hutchison Ports, Eric Ip has highlighted the fact that Quebec City will now have the potential to become the company’s gateway to the eastern coast of North America after the successful completion of this project. With its strategic location and the introduction of the fully-functional, intermodal deepwater port, the Quebec Project definitely has the potential to overcome all the hurdles and perform well in the competitive scenario. Fortunately, the project has also received a lot of support from the local authorities. India’s Coal Import Has Undergone A Growth By 13.4 Percent In April 2019 In the month of April in 2019, the coal import in our country has experienced a commendable growth by 13.4 per cent to 20.72 million tonnes in comparison to the 18.27 million tonnes as recorded in April 2018. If we consider the total import during April 2019 as put forward by the m-junction services, the provisional data of thermal coal shipments or non-coking coal were recorded at 15.08 million tonnes. M-junction services is a B2B e-commerce company that echoes a collaboration between Tata Steel and SAIL and conducts researches regarding the coal and steel verticals. Delving more into the details, the metallurgical coke imports were recorded as 0.22 million tonnes in April while the import of coking coal (widely used in making iron and steel) had amounted to 3.52 million tonnes. The Government has requested the state-run organization, Coal India, to acquire a production standard of self-sufficiency and put an end to the import of thermal coal. JNPT Consolidates Its Position As The Best Container Handling Facility Delivering a steady and brilliant performance over a period of 30 years, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is regarded as the best container handling facility in the entire nation as it continues to undergo a remarkable growth in volume. JNPT is now being led by Mr.Sanjay Sethi as the Chairman of the esteemed organization and has achieved a great milestone in the matters of international trade. As recorded in the month of April this year, JN port has proved its worth by handling no less than 4.31 lakh teus of container traffic. Also, JN Port is considered to be among the top 30 container ports across the globe that shows its contribution to the shipping industry in our country. A.P. Moller- Maersk Has Decided To Join Traxens As A Major Shareholder And Customer A.P. Moller- Maersk has shared its plan of joining Traxens as a significant shareholder and customer along with CMA CGM and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). Established in 2012, Traxens has built a new, container monitoring and coordination solution and this brilliant initiative are being wholeheartedly supported by the major shipping companies. Maersk will also make a significant contribution by investing in Traxens and will also possess the same shareholder rights as MSC and CMA CGM. Sources: https://splash247.com/apl-bows-out-from-asia-europe-tradelane/ http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/americas/hutchison-ports-inks-deal-to-develop-canadian-deepwater-container-terminal.html http://www.maritimegateway.com/indias-coal-import-increased-april-2019/ http://eximin.net/NewsDetails.aspx?name=41224 https://maritime-executive.com/article/a-p-moller-maersk-to-join-traxens